2007Mix-d: Leicester. Youth Conference

Mixed-race students in Leicester have their say.

We had a conference day all about mixed race identity and made more than 50 new friends in Leicester. Students from Babington Community College, City of Leicester College, Judgemeadow Community College, Regent College, Sir Jonathon North Community College and St Pauls RC School attended the event.

Event Summary

This event was a collaboration with Leicester City Council and the SDSA1. The conference offered a ‘safe space’ for mixed-race students to discuss issues around being Mix-d. Denise Williams (Mix-d Education Consultant) started the day with a talk, and reminded the students that this was a place for them to have their voices heard.

Bradley Lincoln, founder of the project also shared his journey and gave an introduction and background to the work. A short quiz about ‘multiple heritage identity’ was given to get things started.

Two poems about being Mix-d were read, youth facilitators recited ‘Good News, Bad News’ and Matthew Crosbie of Manchester recited his poem about his Mix-d experiences. After, students viewed a video called ‘It’s a Mix’, dealing with issues of growing up Mix-d in Leicester.

After refreshments students were split into groups and spent an hour in peer led workshops discussing issues related to mixed-race identity. A scribe was also at hand to capture their thoughts.

After lunch, students re-joined their workshop groups and worked with their youth facilitators to develop an action-plan.

Many of the key issues and themes raised at the conference gave students a rare opportunity to talk about the things they rarely get a chance to talk about, and also gave the youth facilitators a chance to lead and design workshops for their peers. Students commented that is was good to have an opportunity to be curious about their heritage without looking for a problem.